In a new feature to The Wolfpacker website, the staff will tackle three questions on a weekly basis tackling several relevant subjects pertaining to NC State athletics.
Here are the three discussions for this week.
What is your prediction for NC State at the College World Series?
Justin Williams
The Wolfpack will win the whole thing, obviously!
As much as I would love to make that my official prediction, I'm afraid the Pack landed in tougher of the two pods in Omaha. If NC State had Virginia's spot, I would pencil the Wolfpack to get to the final series.
However, because of the way the team is constructed, getting out of the pod in a regional format is a tougher task than winning a three-game series in the final, as was the case when the Pack defeated top-ranked Arkansas in the Super Regionals.
If all goes according to plan, NC State will only have to use five pitchers throughout the entirety of its stay in Omaha. Those five pitchers have proven themselves to be more than capable of leading the Pack to victory, but pitching depth is the clear weakness of this team. That isn't ideal for a regional format in which it only takes one loss to find yourself in the loser's bracket, facing elimination in every game the rest of the way.
I'll go ahead and take the Wolfpack over Stanford on Saturday, a key step if the Pack wants to return home with its first national championship in program history. But I also think the favorites to win the whole thing, Vanderbilt, will defeat Arizona later that evening.
That would set up a meeting with the Commodores on Monday, which would also entail a date with one of Vandy's two ace pitchers, Jack Leiter or Kumar Rocker. Both of them are destined to be first-round picks in this summer's draft. That duo held East Carolina, a team that hosted a regional and spent most of the season ranked in the top 15, to a total of one run in the Super Regionals.
If that ends up being the case, I think Vanderbilt wins, sending the Pack to an elimination game against the winner of Stanford-Arizona.
From that point on, NC State would fight for its playoff life, and I'd like to think they win at least one more from that point on. But ultimately, it would be too much of an ask to expect the Pack to win three straight, including at least one against Leiter or Rocker, from that point on.
I hope I'm wrong about Vanderbilt.
Matt Carter
In Elliott Avent, I believe.
He has been pulling just about all the right strings thus far this postseason dating back to the ACC Tournament.
That said, it's a tough early draw for the Wolfpack. Stanford has a bonafide ace on the mound Saturday, and lost in the fact that NC State gave up 21 runs to Arkansas in game one was the fact that the bats were quiet against the Hogs' top starter.
My guess is Stanford takes game one, and then NC State faces Arizona in the elimination game. I have the Pack avoiding being sent home and getting a rematch with Stanford. This time NC State's bats come alive, but the lack of pitching depth also becomes a concern.
Needing two straight wins against Vanderbilt is a task that proves too large, and I have the Commodores prevailing to the championship series.
